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Parish Records or Bishops Transcript?

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  • Parish Records or Bishops Transcript?

    I have seen people refering to various IGI records as either Parish records or Bishops Transcripts, How can you tell which are which?

    Also how complete are the IGI, if it says 1561-1812 will it include all of those within that time frame for the particular parish(obviously allowing for transcription error, damaged and missing entries)

    I hope that makes sense!!
    Vikki -
    Researching Titchmarsh and Tushingham

  • #2
    Vicky I have been getting lots of parish records of free reg , depends on the area your wanting
    borobabs passed away March 2018

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    • #3
      If you click on the Source Call Number ref., it brings up a page of sources.
      Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Uncle John View Post
        If you click on the Source Call Number ref., it brings up a page of sources.
        When I click on in, I just get a blank page - Hmmm, Wonder why?
        Vikki -
        Researching Titchmarsh and Tushingham

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        • #5
          Vikki

          As a very general rule of thumb, if the batch number begins with C or M, it will be a church/parish register. If it begins with P, it is a parish register BUT could be compiled from Bishop's Transcripts and other sources.

          The best way to find out is as UJ says, click on source, and keep clicking until it tells you what the source is.

          If you use Hugh Wallis site, it will take you to ONLY P, C and M batches (but there are one or two oddities in there!).

          Another way is to go to the Library tab on the LDS site, enter the place name and read the list of church records. The parish register record will be plain to see, as will Bishops Transcripts.

          OC

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          • #6
            Originally posted by borobabs View Post
            Vicky I have been getting lots of parish records of free reg , depends on the area your wanting
            Sadly the parish I need isn't on there (yet), knowing my luck it isn't the right parish anyway
            Vikki -
            Researching Titchmarsh and Tushingham

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            • #7
              Oh bad luck I have had some good ones of there so far ;;
              borobabs passed away March 2018

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              • #8
                Thanks OC,

                Just checked and bu**er, its only the BT.
                Vikki -
                Researching Titchmarsh and Tushingham

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by vikki brace View Post
                  Also how complete are the IGI, if it says 1561-1812 will it include all of those within that time frame for the particular parish(obviously allowing for transcription error, damaged and missing entries)
                  Hi Vikki,

                  I don't know how common it is, but I have found gaps in the reported coverage for some parishes. I confirmed this by searching via Hugh Wallis' site and not entering a surname. This gives you a list of all names in alphabetical order - a quick perusal revealed no entries for the time period I was interested in, despite the fact that those years were nominally included. I suspect that some pages from the register were either missing or illegible, at least on the LDS microfilm.

                  HTH -

                  Tim
                  "If we're lucky, one day our names and dates will appear in our descendants' family trees."

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                  • #10
                    Ah, but Tim, you might have inadvertently hit the rotating records! Try again...

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by vikki brace View Post
                      Thanks OC,

                      Just checked and bu**er, its only the BT.
                      What do you mean its only the BT?
                      The BT could be the original record.

                      Think about the way parish registers were compiled (to make things easier disregard the early registers which were transcribed from paper to parchment or vellum).

                      The clerk notes down the details of the event -baptism, marriage, burial - in his day-book.
                      Then after the morning (or evening) service on Sunday the register would be removed from the parish chest and the day-book entries transcribed into the register.
                      Each year (just after Easter) transcripts of the register would be forwarded to the register of the diocese (Bishop's Transcripts).
                      Some clerks were lazy and forwarded the day books, some took the opportunity to tidy up the register by transcribing it and keeping the transcript sending the original register to the Bishop.
                      So the register could be the transcript and the BT the original.

                      I recommend always checking both register and BT.
                      Cheers
                      Guy
                      Guy passed away October 2022

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                        Ah, but Tim, you might have inadvertently hit the rotating records! Try again...

                        OC
                        Hi OC,

                        I've heard about rotating records - i.e., information that's available on the IGI at some times but not others - although I didn't know if this was fact or fiction. However, I just assumed (obvious mistake) that even if true, it would apply to entire batches, not just to individual records. Do you mean that some entries within a given batch might go walkabout for a while and return later?

                        I wonder if this is due to a computer bug or is it an "undocumented feature" of the IGI?

                        Tim
                        "If we're lucky, one day our names and dates will appear in our descendants' family trees."

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                        • #13
                          Possiby related to the storage capacity of the IGI computer. Rotating the records enables more to be online over time.
                          Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                          • #14
                            Tim

                            I honestly don't know, but I do wonder if bits of a parish register go missing for a while, maybe because they were perhaps transcribed by the same person.

                            So, say Fred Bloggs transcribed 1791,92,3 and then 1801, 1802, of a given register, maybe his input went to a different server?

                            Does that make sense?

                            I can definitely confirm that individual records vanish and reappear, and that is nothing to do with the way in which I input search information (in other words, not using a different search term) because I have tested it with known, previously extracted records from the IGI.

                            OC

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                            • #15
                              OC -

                              Just read your reply now. Thanks very much for this information - I'll have to leave myself a 'To Do' note in future when I can't find something in the IGI that I think should be there.

                              I wonder if the new FamilySearch (which I believe is due out later this year) will correct this problem?

                              Tim
                              "If we're lucky, one day our names and dates will appear in our descendants' family trees."

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